Knitting machine



A ril 1 1928. 1,665,976

N. R. PECHIN KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb.24, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1 Norman R. Pechirl INVENTOR AITORNEY Patented Apr.' 10, 1928.;

NORMANi R. rncnrn; on PHILADELPHlA, PENNSY VANIA." i 5 I gamma mamma- Applicatiqnfiled February 24 1923. S eria1 No. 620,9 86. i v

This invention relates. to knitting machinesand particularly. to what is known as warp-motion knitting machines, and the principal object is to produce a machine of this type in which a "flat arrangement of needles may be utilized to eifect knitting of I tubularmaterial.

- ZAnother objectis to produce novel movement offpart's in such a machine.

Another object is to produce a simplified and efflici'ent construction and operation.

'Withthese and other ob ects in view the invention resides in certain novel construction and combination and arrangement of parts, the essential features'of which are hereinafter fully described, are particularly V ointed out in the appended claims, andare' illustrated the accompanying drawing, in WhiOllI p 1 Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional View of "my machine, many of theparts he ingfshown enlarged, and ezraggemted. as to v size and relation, for the sake of clear-ness.

v'Figure2 is la sectional view-taken substan: tiallyon line'2f2 .of'Figure 1. I Figure3 is aifragmentar horizontal secl ti on throlighlthe knitting machine, a

Figure .4 is a fragmentary sectional view I of the fabric formed by my machine.

'Like characters of reference refer tolike parts in all views.

.gReferring to the drawing in 2 detail, 1O

represents the ,main frame which maybe of anysuitable size, shape and construction to support the operating parts of the machine.

Mounted in suitable bearings in the main frame 10 is the" main operating shaftll which may be operated in any well known manner from any suitable source of power.

r This .main operating shaft carries a number of cams, each of "which has its respective function to perform inthe machine, the

cams being so arranged and set on the.

I shaft as to perform their several operations in positive timed order. Beginning at the left;side of the machine and passing along shaft 11 to the right side ofthe machine e encounter six cams, indicated respectively as r 12,113, 14, 15, 16 and 17: The first cam 12' controls the selvage thread layers in their movemehtsythe second' cam 13 controls the lateral movements-of the rear needle plate;

.me1'als18 and 19 indicatethe needle Iifting,

Springs 33 and3 l secured tothe needle-lift the third and fourth cams 1 4 and 15 control thevertical movements of the needle lifting mstrumenta'lities; the fifth" cam 16 controls The operation of 'c'a'msf-lt and" v15 2 in fecting vertical movements of the .needle- V lifting bars/will first be consideredgRea ferring particularly to: the-drawing, the nul-l-iand The" slide members o bars .20 and 21' carry anti-friction rollers 22 which" ride in the slots of cams 14 and 15, the slotsas illustratedbe'ingso fo1'med ;as'-'toreciprocate bars 18 and '19, twicefat each .75 are formed with enlarged lower endSj QOf having oblong slots 24: Which ride up and revolution of shaftlll. Thebars 20i-and 2,1

down on square-blocks 25 threaded loosely on the shaft 11; and the upper endsjof'fthe bars 20 and 21 arebifurcated to form arms 26 which support the, aforementioned needle- 2 liftingbars I8 and 19g j Ll/Ve nmvcome 'toflthe' operation 'of the, 1 needle-bars,-i'.fe., thebars against which the c movelaterallyl; Theseibars, of which there needles are gsecuredfand with which they are" two arefindicated respel'ctively, by the reference numerals '27- andlf28l The bars are I mounted "to slide cross-wise'of (the machine I forwardly'ifrom the face ofjthe' front needlebar 27, arefour studs numbered respective a ly,'2 9,' 30,' 31- and 32, lithefirst two being at the left-hand sijde'oflthe plate, and the in slots infthemain frame lfOI ,Exten'ding lasttwo 7 at the right handj sid e. Similar studs are arranged on rear plate 28 wherethey. 'operate the same and elfectfthesaine results as do those on the "front plate.

ing bar' 18 extend upwardly at the leftand rightflto-cooperatra Withfthe studs in a mam ner to'be presently "set forth, and similar with the studs iioif springs (to-operate rear plate 28 a bars which are provided ;W ith depending slide men'1bers2O and 21 at the leftand right i and each passing down in close proximity tov the faces of theirrespective operating cams] v 70 7 onlythe needles numbered 35, 36, 37, 33, 39,

and 40, of whichthe first three are mounted on the needle-bar 27 and the others on the needle-bar 28.

. The method of mounting is as follows z- 0n the side of the needle-bars 27 and 28 are slide brackets 41, there being a pair of these brackets on each needle-bar. Slidable in the brackets of each needle-bar are a respect-ive pair of clamping bars 42 and 43, the former number representing the lower bar of each pair, which rests on the respective needle-lifting bars 18 and 19. The needles are of the usual type "and are provided with lugs or'heels 44 which rest on the lower clamping bars 42 and are held in engagement by the aforementioned upper clampingbars 43. T The needle-lifting bars 18-and l9'are provided with clamp hooks bars.

or fingers which extend over the upper clamping bars 41 and hold the pairs of bars and needles for vertical movement with the needle-lifting bars while permitting sliding or horizontal movement with the needle- The sliding movement of the needle-bars is efiected by means of links 46 connected to the upper ends ofrespective levers 47, the

5 lower ends of which are provided with a roller 48 engaging in slots'cut in the faces of the cams 13 and 18 which will in their operation cause the crosswise reciprocation of the needle-bars in twomovements in each direction, the needle-bars being moved in reverse directions with relation to each other.

When the operation of'shaft 11 begins, presuming the needle-bars to hem their eX. tremeoutward positions, the cams 13 and 16 first cause a movement ofboth bars inwardly, a distance equal to the distance between centers of needles; there is a short dwell, and then a second step of thesame lengtl1 :inwardly; another slight dwell and the return or outward movements begin, the steps of the return movements being the direct reverse of the movements to the right. The entire cycle therefore comprising four steps of lateral movement of the needles, with four intervening dwells, one dwell in each direction being longer than the other so as to allow time for the stitch. Also in the operation, each yarn, after leaving'some suitable source of supply passes through a thread guide 53. In fact there are two guides 53 and two strands of yarn, passing from the thread guides 53 to the needles, through the several needlesand as the needles are-operated the thread guides 53 move laterally from each other and back again between the several needles, thereby feeding the yarn from the thread guides to the needles for the various courses. The thread guides 53 receive such movement due to, the recipro eating movement of the links 74', which move'in unison, and causes the thread guides to first separate then move toward each other and so on through the various courses of the threads of arn.

While this movement of the needle-bars is controlled by cams 13 and 16, still, in a ma chine where such fine adjustments are necessary, other-means must be provided to determine the throw of the needle-bars. That is what the studs 29, 30, 31, and 32 and springs 33 and 34 are provided for. The extreme left and right positions are determined by studs 29 and 32 contacting with the frame uprights 32 and the intermediate stops are determined by stops 30 and 31 contacting' with the springs 33 and 34 respectively.

We 110w come to the thread layers, of which there are two kindsthe selvage layers and the side layers. The purpose of thread layers in any knitting-machine is to carry the threads to the needles with which two needles, and each needle co-operates ,al-

ternately with two thread layers.

Now considering the selvage thread layers first, two of these are shown in the present case and are numbered 49 and 50 respectively. (However, it is to be remembered'that v a larger number ofselvage thread layers could be used when the machine is designed for turning out a plurality of articles simultaneously.) The selvage layer 49 is arranged at the left-hand end and'feedsits thread to needles 35 and 38; and selvage layer 50 operates in conjunction with needles 37' and 40 at the right-hand end. Each of these layers feeds the thread first to one of its corresponding needles and then to the other. The selvage layers 49 and 50 are mounted for pivotal movement on throughbars or pivot rods 51 and 52, respectively.

The ordinary thread layers now in use have round eyes formed in them throughwhich the thread passes,'but I have devised a new form of thread layer, by utilizing an elongated or oval eye 53 through which the ends 'so as to 'co-operate withtwobars 70 ithreadnpasses, which will veryiclosely a .sR I X malZB in: its minor diameter, the diameter ofthe :threadand at the same time by.

having amelongated major axis will permit the free passage of the uneven spots in the filler in knittingshoe-laces, etc.

are extended thread gand gives room for the passage of The selvage layers49 and [above their pivot rods 51 and 52 so as to form upper arms 54 and 55, respectively.

"These upper arms are slotted or bifurcated Y at their upper ends to receive cross-bars 56- and 57 respectively. These bars are a tightand slot connection with arms 60 pivoted i v 61 toa vertically movable bar 62 which car- 64in the cam 12 to raise and lower-the links 59 and rock the selvage layers from one po- 1 an fit inthe notches and are mounted on the ends of arms 58 which extend .outwardly 7 and are pivotally secured to links 59 which extend downwardly through slots inv the bed-plate of the .frame 10, and have a pin below the bed-plateand loosely connected at ries a roller or truck 63 operating in a slot sition to another for carrying thethread about the needles.

V Referring now to the side layers; there will be seen tobe for the six needles used here, two of these side layers mounted on 1 each of the two bars 51 and 52. The two side layers mountedon the bar 51 are shown at 65 and 66 respectively, and co-operate with the needles of the rear bank, layer 65 'co-operating with needles 38 and 39 while layer 66 co-operates with needles 39 and 10..

I In like manner, layers 67 and 68 on bar 52 c0- operate with needles 35and 36, and 36'and-37,

respectively. The side layers .65, 66, 67 and 68, are extendedoutwardly into arms'69f which are'notched or bifurcated at their and 71 which have arms 72 and'73 pivoted on the upper ends of links 74, which links project downwardly through the bed-plate g of themachine frameand are provided with arms .75, which arms are pivoted to each other and to a vertically moving bar 76 at 77. The vertically moving bar 76 carries a truc-k or anti-friction roller 78 whichengages with a slot 79 in the aforesaid cam 172 at the extreme righthand of the machine. This cam is "so shaped that upon each complete rotation of the operating'shaft 11, the

side thread layerswill have been reciprocated twice so as to each effect threading of 7 both of the needles with which it co-operates. r

The cycle of operation of theoperating. shaft effects operation of the parts as fol'-' lows: Cams 1e and 15 cause two vertical reciprocations of the needles 3540, i 'e., two stitches of all needles. Each of the layers therefore lays down two stitches or in other Words, wraps its thread about two needles,

during the single operation. Each selvage thread layer feeds to the respective'end 'needljes of 'reachplate,zan'dL'whileone selvage" layer is feeding tOf OIIG of its; co operating .needles fithe other selva ge layer is feed-ing thediagonally opposite needle The/sides;

layers on each side feed? those needles not lbeingfed'by a-selvage-lafyer The two niove- I 'mentsofthe' needle-bars in each direction,

together Wlth the concomitant movements of the threadlayers wrap each threadaround two needles during each complete cycle ofoperation. There'are therefore two flat fabrics simultaneously knitted, and these are inter-knitted by the'selvage layers so asl'to form a tubular fabric. Byduplicating the arrangement of needles and layers, any num" so T berof articles may be simultaneously knitted.

; .While r av described as I deem to a. i

the most desirable embodiment of my invention, it is obviousthat many of-the'parts may be varied without in any way departing from the spirit of my invention, andI therei fore do not limit myself to the exact details of construction herein shown nor to anything less than the Whole of, my invention limited only by the appended claims.

What I- claim .is':-

1. Ina device of the class described; the Y ing a plurality of rectangular slots inthe g 1 combination of a pairof needle bars includcarrying frame for lateral reciprocatingmovement therein of said needle barsy a a i plurality of'needles secured to and movable with said .needle bars, a pair of vertically m pivoted levers connected to said needlebars,

an operating shaft, a pair of cams thereon for operating said pivoted levers in a hori zontal: reciprocating manner, a pair of} needle lifting bars operatively associated with the needles on one of theneedle bars, a"

pair of forked lifting studs secured tosaid' needle lifting bars a pair of eccentrically rooved face cams intermediate the ends' of said shaft, the lower end of said forked studs J! m I provided with laterally'extending pivoted rollers whichv engage in the grooves of "said face cams, for effecting the vertical reciproeating movement of said needle'liftingbars. 2. In a device of theclass described, "the combination of a' pair ofneedle bars includ 'ing a plurality ,ofrectangular "slots in the carrying frame for lateral reciprocating I movement therein of said needle bars, a. plurality of needles securedto and movable g with said needle bars,"a pair of vertically pivoted :levers connected to said-needlebars,

face cams intermediate the e'ndsfjof said shaft, the lower'end of said forked studs pair of pivoted connecting rods, and said 7 provided With laterally extending pivoted rods operating a pair of vertical selvage rollers Which engage in the grooves of said thread and side threadlayer'bank rods ad- 10 face cams, for eifectin'gthe vertical reciprojustably pivoted adjacent the ends of said eating movement of said needle liftingbars, connecting rods.

a concentrically grooved face cam at each In testimony whereof I aflixmy'signature. end of said operating shaft for operating a NORMAN R. PECHIN. 

